Follies of God

May 5, 2020 / Benn Bell / 3 Comments

Book Review

Follies of God is a book that came a long at just the right time for me. I had been thinking about Tennessee Williams for a while and had just read one of his plays. He has long been a figure that has fascinated me, both the man and his work.

I was watching YouTube videos one evening and came across an interview with a young man who told a story about meeting Tennessee Williams. It seems he got a call one morning and his mother woke him and said there was a man on the phone who says his name is Tennessee Williams. The young man realized that it must be him because he had written him a letter asking for advice on how to be a writer. He took the call. As the young man related the story, Tennessee asked him to come to have lunch with him. Where are you, he asked? I am in New Orleans, Tennessee answered. But I’m, in Baton Rouge. Well, you better hurry. So, the next day James Grissom drove to New Orleans to meet Tennessee Williams for lunch and thus began the amazing story of how this book came about. Well, I was hooked. I ordered the book that night on Amazon and it arrived very shortly thereafter.

James met with Tennessee Williams and was given a mission. To find the women that had meant so much to him, the women who appeared in his plays and movies, and some of whom were his muses and characters he modeled his characters on or wrote for. He wanted to know if he mattered to them. He called these women, The Follies of God. The characters he created for the stage he called, The Women of the Fog. Tennessee described his writing process as one of creating a mental theater in his mind. The fog rolls in across the boards and a female emerges. “I have been very lucky. I am a multi-souled man, because I have offered my soul to so many women, and they have filled it, repaired it, sent it back to me for use.”

This book is the story of that mission and how it came to be. It also gives us deep insight into the mind of one of the most creative geniuses of the American theater. Tennessee Williams needed a witness and young James Grissom was who he chose.

“Good Lord, can I get a witness? Here is the importance of bearing witness. We do not grow alone; talents do not prosper in a hothouse of ambition and neglect and hungry anger. Love does not arrive by horseback or prayer or good intentions. We need the eyes, the arms, and the witness of others to grow, to know that we have existed, that we have mattered, that we have made our mark. And each of us has a distinct mark that colors our surroundings, that flavors the recipe of every experience in which we find ourselves; but we remain blind, without identity until someone witnesses us.”

During the course of fulfilling his mission James Grissom talked to some of the most important figures on the American Theater scene: Lillian Gish, Maureen Stapleton, Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, John Gielgud, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, Geraldine Page, and Katherine Hepburn, to name a few. This book is the fascinating account of his interviewing these witnesses and the sometime startling things they had to day. And yes, Tennessee did matter, and so he still does.

Fall Guy

May 1, 2020May 1, 2020 / Benn Bell / 1 Comment

Cumberland Falls

On the last day of my hiking trip, I tripped over some vines and fell to the ground. I had been hiking in the Cumberland Falls area for a few days taking pictures. When I fell, I had a tripod in one hand and a camera in the other. Trying to protect the camera I fell hard on my left side jamming my left hand into the dirt as I let the tripod go flying. On my drive home my hand and wrist grew more painful and swelled. I thought I’d better see a doctor. I called my private doctor on my cell phone and made an emergency appointment.

I arrived at his office about an hour later. After a thorough examination he said he didn’t think it was broken, but badly sprained and that it would heal up on its own. Not so lucky with the camera. I had to take it to the shop to be repaired, set me back $200.

This is where I tripped

Wild River (Cumberland River)

Cumberland River

Cumberland Falls is located on the Cumberland River in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Southeastern Kentucky.

Failure of Leadership

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 / Benn Bell / 7 Comments

Rant of the day

Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump’s recent refusal to wear masks (PPE) in violation of their own public health guidelines is a dangerous failure of leadership and a dereliction of duty. The first principle of leadership is to lead by example. When I worked in manufacturing this is a lesson, I repeatedly pounded home during out daily staff meetings and production meetings. Our employees were required to wear PPE on the factory floor to ensure their safety. If our supervisors and mangers wouldn’t wear the PPE, then neither would the rank and file employees. Lead by example! And if you can’t do that, then get out of the way. You have no business being in a position of leadership.

The Big Knife (1955)

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020 / Benn Bell / 9 Comments

Movie Review

Directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, and Rod Steiger. Screenplay by James Poe, based on the play by Clifford Odets.

The Big Knife is a movie that defies easy classification. It is billed as a crime picture, a drama, and a film-noir. I would call it more of a melodrama. It is a poison pen piece directed at the cruel and heartless Hollywood system of the time, which, when you think about it, hasn’t really changed by much. At one point the Shelly Winters character says, “I’d rather see a snake than a Hollywood producer.”

The writing is a bit turgid, approaching the Baroque. It is hard to tell where Clifford Odets leaves off and James Poe begins. But I suspect it is Poe, who is doing all the declaiming. Example: “How dare you come in here and throw this mess of naked pigeons in my face.”

Ida Lupino and Jack Palance

It seemed to me to have a strong Homo-erotic undertow. I don’t know, I didn’t see any mention of it in any of the reviews, but it was certainly apparent to me. In the opening scene the Jack Palance character, Charlie Castle, and his personal trainer, Nick, were boxing in the backyard of his plush home in Bel Air. Both were half naked and there was a lot of clinching going on. They were having a lot of fun. Later Nick gives Charlie a rubdown on a massage table in the backyard while Charlie took a meeting with the head of the studio and his henchmen. Lot of sensual rubbing going on. Then, Nick has Charlie turn over on his back and he pours alcohol on his chest and belly and continues to rub. All the while Charlie is talking to others in the scene. Towards the end of the scene, when it looks like Charlie is going to crack from the pressure, Nick sidled up to him from behind and gets very close and says into his ear, “Is there anything a Greek can do for you? Anything at all?”

Throughout the movie all the male characters refer to Charlie as kiddie, darling, and dear. All very strange. And then there is the matter of the Big Knife. What big knife? There’s no knife to be seen in the movie. Obviously, a symbol of something, but what? Usually considered phallic, but there was a lot of backstabbing going on and then there was that last scene. Plenty of heterosexual activity too. Charlie the movie star was something of a player. Every time somebody went up the spiral staircase it was to have sex with someone. Usually Charlie.

Rod Steiger and jack Palance

All the acting was over the top and the actors chewed the scenery plenty. Rod Steiger went nuclear in one scene which probably will go down in the history of cinema as the most explosive ever. The only actor who escaped this phenomenon was Ida Lupino, who was pitch perfect in every scene.

Now, you may have gotten the impression that I didn’t like this film. Not so. I thought it was very entertaining and fascinating to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is definitely an important part of film history. Highly Recommended.

Night of the Hunter (1955)

April 25, 2020April 25, 2020 / Benn Bell / 6 Comments

Movie Blurb

Directed by Charles Laughton, starring Robert Mitchum, Shelly Winters, and Lillian Gish

Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter

Billed as one of the scariest movies ever made, Night of the Hunter (1955) is certainly chilling. Nobody does menace quite like Robert Mitchum. He plays a psychopathic man of the cloth who wields a switchblade knife like an erect penis. The man has definitely got his wires crossed. Beautifully photographed in black and white, each frame composed magnificently to produce the maximum effect. Highly stylized presentation, more of an arthouse thriller than a run of the mill horror flick. Definitely one of a kind. If you love films, this is one to add to your list.

The Godfather

April 24, 2020 / Benn Bell / 6 Comments

When I was a human resources manager working in a factory in New Jersey we would always have an annual service award banquet for the employees. We were a union shop with four locals and four union presidents. These affairs, as I ran them, were kind of a big deal and the employees looked forward to them every year. We always had a live band and invited lots of guests. One year I thought I would invite the regional union rep for the International Union. His name was Frank, he was Italian, and he looked liked he walked right off the set of the Godfather. When I introduced Frank to speak, as he strode across the floor to take the podium, I glanced at the band leader and nodded my head. The strains from the Theme to the Godfather began to emanate from the bandstand, to uproarious laughter, and no one was laughing more that Frank. The employees loved it! It was a night to remember.

Summer Wine

April 21, 2020 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

This is Colonial Gardens. I used to come her when I was a teenager to drink and listen to the music. One summer I fell in love with the the lead singer who used to sing the song, Summer Wine. Whenever I hear that song I think back to that summer…

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

April 18, 2020April 18, 2020 / Benn Bell / 1 Comment

Movie Blurb

The Lady from Shanghai (1947), directed by Orson Welles, starring Orson Welles, screenplay by Orson Welles, also starring the beautiful Rita Hayworth. Wow! I can’t believe I have never seen this film noir classic until now. That is the beauty of the Criterion Channel. A very convoluted plot, solid acting, a few plot holes, and a phony Irish brogue on the part of the Orson Welles character mixed together with original and creative camera work and outstanding editing make for the ingredients of a flawed but visually stunning movie. Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth were married at the time the picture was being filmed but were divorced three weeks after completion. That might explain the lack of chemistry between the two. He had her cut her hair short and bleached blonde for the picture, which was controversial at the time but I thought she looked sensational. This is a must see for all serious film buffs. Glad I finally got around to it!

To Loving Blackness

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 / Benn Bell / 5 Comments

During the time of Coronavirus I took the opportunity to attend an online Buddhist Seminar entitled : In the Footsteps of Thich Nhat Hanh. I consider Thich Nhat Hanh to be my guru. It was a five day summit, but since I was stuck at home I had plenty of time to attend. On the second day of the summit, at the end of the day, there was a short video that featured the writer bell hooks. Now bell hooks would be just about the last person in the world I would ever expect to encounter at a Buddhist seminar. Not there is any thing wrong with bell hooks. I like bell hooks. I know bell hooks. I’ve read several of her books and I have tremendous respect for her. I met her once in Philadelphia at a lecture she gave at the Free Library. I brought a book along with me for her to sign after the lecture, which she graciously did. When it came my turn I stood before her and smiled at her and told her that we shared the same name and that we both were from Kentucky. She liked that. She autographed my book with the following inscription: “To Loving Blackness.”

It was an evening I would not forget. Bell hooks is a woman with a fierce intellect and strong opinions and she is a woman who is full of rage. She would be the first person to admit that. So, it was not without a little bit of surprise to run across this video of her at the summit. In the video she describes her encounter with Thich Nhat Hanh. She described how she was a little apprehensive about meeting the zen master. She told him when she met him that she was filled with rage. He met that rage with loving kindness. He said that was OK. Hold onto your rage and use it for compost for your garden. Well, at moment, she had a little aha experience. And she was able to transform her anger, and that was the point of the video. Perfect!

It Was a Very Good Year

April 9, 2020 / Benn Bell / 6 Comments

When I was 17

This is Cox’s park down on the Ohio River. I used to come here as a teenager in a battered old 1959 Chevy Bel Air. I had installed a radio I got from a junk yard and put in speakers in the rear window. We would open up the trunk turn the radio on and dance to the music in the parking lot. Later we would watch the submarine races.

Ohio River from Cox’s Park

Old Man River

Keeps Rolling Along

In the Autumn of my years